Perspectives of Women in Science Lecture: "Relaxation Matters: Lessons from Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy"

This annual lectureship highlights a female physician-scientist, who will discuss her scientific journey, including personal and professional opportunities and challenges that shaped her path to a rewarding research career.

Christine Seidman is the Thomas W. Smith Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Harvard Medical School, an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She was an undergraduate at Harvard College and received a MD from George Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Seidman served as an intern and resident in Internal Medicine at John Hopkins Hospital and received subspecialty training in cardiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Seidman has pioneered the discovery of the genetic basis for heart muscle disorders, including hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies and congenital heart disease. By engineering human mutations into iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and mouse models she has identified molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets. Her work has enabled development of clinical gene-based diagnostics, early and accurate identification of at-risk individuals, and pre-emptive interventions to limit the progression and devastating outcomes associated with these disorders.

Dr. Seidman is the recipient of the American Heart Association Basic Science Prize and Joseph A. Vita Award, the American Society for Clinical Investigation Award, the Pasarow Foundation Award in Cardiovascular Research, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cardiovascular Research, the Institut de France Fondation Lefoulon-Delalande Grand Prix for Science Award and the European Society of Cardiology Gold Medal. She is a member of U.S. National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Science.